The Royal Enfield 500 Classic thread!

This is a discussion on The Royal Enfield 500 Classic thread! within Motorbikes, part of the BHP India category; Originally Posted by Invader
Also has anybody used a high-performance ceramic brake pads?? any suggestions??
Brake Pads should be of ...

Hi everyone and thanks for this wonderful thread. I've been a Machismo owner in the past and have been debating buying another RE every year but didn't follow through on that. Finally, wifey booked me a DS as an anniversary gift in Feb.
Got delivery August 14th and carefully went through the initial 500 km before the 1st service. Those 500 kilometres were excruciating to say the least. At the first service, changed to an upswept exhaust and K&N air filter.
On riding the bike after the service, I noticed that while it was a lot smoother than earlier, with the gears slotting in nice and easy, the pickup of the bike seemed lower than usual. After another 200 kms of riding, I wanted to change back to the stock filter to see if that made any difference. Wanted to also change back to stock exhaust. I opened up the air filter chamber and a friend who has a K&N on his RX100 was surprised to see the plastic case that covered up the air filter - he asked me to remove this casing and try riding.
Huge difference after the removal of the plastic case! Bike was smoother - I could touch 80kmph without a problem (keeping to less than 80-90) till I complete 2000 kms.
Wanted to check if this is the right thing to do and also, if the upswept is taking away from performance of the bike. I'm riding for the pleasure of riding and not looking at mileage figures - will appreciate inputs on the best performance exhaust for the CL500.
On a side note, bought a nice saddle bag at a new store at HSR layout, BLR - will post some pix of that in a day or so.
Cheers/Srikanth

...a friend who has a K&N on his RX100 was surprised to see the plastic case that covered up the air filter...

Ba-ha-ha-ha-ha.

It does make one wonder about the knowledge of some mechanics, doesn't it?

The fuel injected RE's seem to adjust the fuel/air ratio for the inlet so adding the K&N filter doesn't seem to cause a problem (although I felt the tapered K&N filter I put on my G5 reduced its acceleration so I went back to the original paper filter).

Changing the exhaust to a less restrictive silencer will usually make a 4 stroke engine run on the lean side and the computer has no way of knowing what the exhaust restriction is.
This will sometimes make the engine loose some of its mid-range torque and high end power.
A indication of this condition also is a increase in backfiring out of the tailpipe when the throttle is closed.

A great deal of testing is done at the factory before a machine is put into production and the original silencer and the engine are designed to work well together.

Of course, sometimes people want to "improve" on the original design. That is just a characteristic of the human race.

If improving power is desired, a lot of testing is usually required.
If improving the sound is desired, it may effect the engines power or life (lean conditions can overheat and burn the exhaust valve and its seat).

In the end, it's the owners decision whether he/she wants to take on this testing and possible risk to make them happy.

Hi everyone and thanks for this wonderful thread. I've been a Machismo owner in the past and have been debating buying another RE every year but didn't follow through on that. Finally, wifey booked me a DS as an anniversary gift in Feb.
Got delivery August 14th and carefully went through the initial 500 km before the 1st service. Those 500 kilometres were excruciating to say the least. At the first service, changed to an upswept exhaust and K&N air filter.
On riding the bike after the service, I noticed that while it was a lot smoother than earlier, with the gears slotting in nice and easy, the pickup of the bike seemed lower than usual. After another 200 kms of riding, I wanted to change back to the stock filter to see if that made any difference. Wanted to also change back to stock exhaust. I opened up the air filter chamber and a friend who has a K&N on his RX100 was surprised to see the plastic case that covered up the air filter - he asked me to remove this casing and try riding.
Huge difference after the removal of the plastic case! Bike was smoother - I could touch 80kmph without a problem (keeping to less than 80-90) till I complete 2000 kms. Wanted to check if this is the right thing to do and also, if the upswept is taking away from performance of the bike. I'm riding for the pleasure of riding and not looking at mileage figures - will appreciate inputs on the best performance exhaust for the CL500.
On a side note, bought a nice saddle bag at a new store at HSR layout, BLR - will post some pix of that in a day or so.
Cheers/Srikanth

Read my Post,i made a few days back on this thread.
I was using upswept on mine,and now switched to OEM Bazooka.
What a welcome change,bike now breathes a lot better,and feels peppier.

@ArizonaJim: Yup - that backfiring began the moment I moved to the upswept exhaust. Will move back to the stock exhaust and report...thanks.
@Akshay: When you say OEM Bazooka, do you mean the stock exhaust? Your earlier post mentions you not having a problem with lack of thump.

I have DS which is 11 months old and 14k kms on the odo. i face an strange problem. yesterday it was raining heavily. i was in maddening traffic of bangalore. after 2 hours i had stopped bike at signal. when i tried the electric start it dint work. it behaved as if the battery is completely drained. i had to use kick start. however the behavior was same throughout the journey for another 3 hours and 50 kms in bangalore traffic. i reached home and parked the bike. started the bike using kick start today morning. after riding for 2 kms now the electric start started working without any issues. i dont know what to say at the service center. has anyone faced this problem.

the battery was replaced under warranty only 2 months back. what may be causing this behavior. anyone faced the same issue?

Had parked my Classic 500 and was having chai and *** at a roadside tapri in morning, when a couple of policemen wielding sten guns came up to me ...

The senior policeman had purchased a Classic 350, and wanted to check out the 500. We had a good chat about our rides, and he asked me quite a few questions regarding running in, maintenance, aftermarket silencer, etc.

He also said nowadays trend of policemen using bullets in patrol is coming down, they prefer more reliable modern bikes.

I have couple of questions for all the experts out there; I am sure this topic would have been discussed at length...pardon me if I am repeating.

1. Is engine braking good/bad for the engine?
2. If good, what is a recommended procedure? gear vs speed etc.

The reason for my question is, my friend who also has a Classic 500 and he uses his engine brake thoroughly; when i ride his bike, i feel there is a lot of harshness, vibrations in the overall engine.

Invader,
Engine braking is the process of using engine compression to slow down the vehicle when the throttle is closed. On a 4-S machine, when the throttle valve is closed, the piston draws no mixture into the cylinder. It works against a vacuum. Lubrication to the engine is not affected, and hence there is no adverse effect to the engine if the process is done properly. On the contrary, this process can prolong the life of drivetrain components and brakes. Refer to my post here for further info.

The harshness of your friend's Bullet may be due to his riding style.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Rahul

PS: Engine braking on a 2-S motorcycle can be dangerous if done for prolonged periods. But since this is a Bullet thread, lets leave that alone.

Just drain water of spark plug and near by areas and it will start.
i had this issue with my thunderbird always. even a light shower acts as thunder on my bike

But here i dont see problem with starting. only electric start doesnt work.
If the water is in spark plug, then then cranking from ES should be fine. however i do not have any problem with starting the bike. Only the battery gets drained after 2 hours in traffic. i had experienced this once before. when there was no rain. why does battery drain in the first place. bike starts in one kick. Do you still think water in spark plug being the problem.

Hi, I was trying to upload the pics of my new Bullet through this site but on every pic I tried, it says I exceeded the maximum limit of some mb.... what am I doing wrong?

Anyway, I'm very worried. I bought the Classic 500 (Again!) last month, this time in Chrome- Black and after very carefully riding it below 60 for the first 1,000 kms or so, decided to open her up to about 80kmph last week. I read in this forum itself that after 1,000 kms i should try doing 80 or so.

What I didn't take into consideration is that here in Sikkim, it's all hilly and I was opening the throttle wide on an uphill. Also maybe because it was early morning- although i had sufficiently warmed up the bike- or maybe I'm quite heavy, after less than a minute of going about 80, the bike's piston promptly got stuck and I pressed the clutch and came to a halt. With a sinking feeling, I realized that I had probably seized it. Waited for ten minutes for it to cool down, it started in the first press of the self and rode off again.. now very slowly.

The thing is, there's no smoke from the silencer which means no oil leakages from the Rings, but since that time, the bike's become very rough, the acceleration and the torque at low rpm has come down drastically.... could this be because of the mini-seize (it's like saying "slightly pregnant, isn't it?) or is it because of the change to the upswept silencer? I'm reverting back to the OEM Bazooka tomorrow to check the difference...

Should I have the engine opened up just to check if it hasn't been marked. And if there are the signs of seizure, do i need to change the Block and piston for it to perform properly?

The thing is, there's no smoke from the silencer which means no oil leakages from the Rings, but since that time, the bike's become very rough, the acceleration and the torque at low rpm has come down drastically.... could this be because of the mini-seize (it's like saying "slightly pregnant, isn't it?) or is it because of the change to the upswept silencer? I'm reverting back to the OEM Bazooka tomorrow to check the difference...

Is the bike drinking oil? Keep checking the oil level.

When you re-started, did you get a piston-against-cylinder wall rat-a-tat sound?

Do you get such a sound when bike is cold which gets better as the bike heats up?

Quote:

Should I have the engine opened up just to check if it hasn't been marked. And if there are the signs of seizure, do i need to change the Block and piston for it to perform properly?

Guys, please advise,

Thanks.

If the piston is lightly scored, its possible to polish it and the walls, re-hone if necessary, new rings if necessary, and start again.

I have DS which is 11 months old and 14k kms on the odo. i face an strange problem. yesterday it was raining heavily. i was in maddening traffic of bangalore. after 2 hours i had stopped bike at signal. when i tried the electric start it dint work. it behaved as if the battery is completely drained.

the battery was replaced under warranty only 2 months back. what may be causing this behavior. anyone faced the same issue?

Did the bike crank when you pressed the electric start? If no, then your battery is fine and it is clearly an issue with the self start button. Try pressing the horn button when this happens the next time to check your battery status.

Spraying some WD40/Wurth Rust off etc into the self start switch might do the trick.

At an idle speed with the headlight on its "low" (40 watt) beam the voltage is at 12 volts.

Under the same idle speed with the high beam on (50 watts) the indicator says the system voltage is slightly below 12 volts. If I am also applying the brake while stopped so that the rear brake light is lit it drops below 12 volts.

12 volts is fine for all of the operating systems but it doesn't charge the battery at all.

Running the engine or motorcycle at higher speeds the voltage rises to 14 volts which will charge the battery but this is not always possible when stuck in traffic jams.

I suggest that use your headlight low beam and if you are going to be limited to long periods of sitting at traffic lights you shift the transmission to neutral and run the engine slightly faster than an idle speed. Don't race the engine but keep it slightly above idle.
When moving, avoid shifting to higher gears. Let the engine run freely so it can recharge the battery.

I don't know the laws in your area but in some locations the motorcycle can be ridden with the headlight off.
With the headlight off but the parking lights on the system voltage will be slightly above 12 volts at an idle speed. This can also help to keep your battery charged.

Although it is dangerous to ride without the headlight on, the yellow "flasher" on the left grip will turn on your headlights high beam even if the headlights are turned off.
This can be useful when approaching other traffic, people or intersections.

Because your battery has been in a state of low charge, you might want to consider buying a trickle battery charger to charge the battery overnight.
This, plus trying the things I suggested should keep your battery at a state that can operate your electric starter at all times.

Hi, I was trying to upload the pics of my new Bullet through this site but on every pic I tried, it says I exceeded the maximum limit of some mb.... what am I doing wrong?

Anyway, I'm very worried. I bought the Classic 500 (Again!) last month, this time in Chrome- Black and after very carefully riding it below 60 for the first 1,000 kms or so, decided to open her up to about 80kmph last week. I read in this forum itself that after 1,000 kms i should try doing 80 or so.

Should I have the engine opened up just to check if it hasn't been marked. And if there are the signs of seizure, do i need to change the Block and piston for it to perform properly?

Guys, please advise,

Thanks.

Riding a new engine at 80 uphill should not be done at all. How do you say that the piston got stuck? Did you come to the halt because of some other reason? Get the oil and oil filter changed ASAP and inspect the oil for any traces of metal. The way it sounds, it seems that something somewhere in your new engine has faced abnormal wear and you will come to know of it later in the form of engine response/sound/fuel efficiency/smoke/etc . Workshop people might not accept to take apart the engine until you face some serious issue or your engine produces abnormal sound which may/may not happen. It is very sad, but you might have to live with it. I think experts can comment better on this and to the extent damage might have been done(if any).